Richard Burford

Who is Richard Burford?

Richard T. "Richie" Burford is a beef and dairy farmer from Stonewall, Louisiana, who is a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 7, southern Caddo, DeSoto, and Sabine parishes, in the northwestern portion of the state. Burford is the first Republican to represent DeSoto Parish since Reconstruction.

Prior to his legislative service, which began on January 14, 2008, Burford was one of eleven members of the DeSoto Parish Police Jury, having represented District 3 since 1996. He is a member of the DeSoto Parish Chamber of Commerce.

As a legislator, Burford pledged to support Blueprint Louisiana, a group which proposes reforms in the way Louisiana conducts its state government and promotes high technology and economic development. It is chaired by former State Representative Sean Reilly, an officer of Lamar Advertising Company in Baton Rouge.

In the general election held on November 17, 2007, Burford defeated Democrat Kenny Ray Cox of Mansfield, 4,993 to 2,990 to win the House seat. In the October 20 jungle primary, Burford and Cox led three other candidates, Republican Dennis Freeman, the since deceased mayor of Logansport in DeSoto Parish, and Democrats Hilda Fair Rives and John G. Russell, a bank executive. Burford succeeded term-limited Democrat Beverly G. Bruce, who was first elected in District 7 in 1995, when she defeated the Republican Tommy Gene Armstrong, 7,027 to 62,35. Bruce ran without opposition in both 1999 and 2003.